The British GENES blog (GEnealogy News and EventS): Top stories concerning British Isles ancestral research from Irish born Scottish based professional family historian, author and tutor Chris Paton. Feel free to quote from this blog, but please credit British GENES if you do so. Should you wish to get in touch, contact me at christopherpaton @ tiscali.co.uk. Happy hunting!

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Friday, 8 June 2012

National Archives of Ireland - new genealogy service

So last week I was telling you that the genealogy service provided at the National Archives of Ireland (www.nationalarchives.ie) had been suspended - it seems only fair now to tell you about the new one taking its place! The following is a press release from Eneclann:

New enhanced genealogy service now available, as the National Archives and the National Library of Ireland award tender to new Consortium

The joint consortium of Eneclann and Ancestor Network are delighted to announce that they will provide genealogy services in the National Archives of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland in the coming year, following a competitive tendering process. The consortium has increased the number of genealogy experts delivering the service, to provide a wide and comprehensive range of expertise to anyone looking for help and advice in tracing their family history.

“We look forward to assisting Irish people and overseas visitors alike in tracing their roots especially in the coming year of the Gathering,” said Fiona Fitzsimons, Research Director of Eneclann. “We are delighted to partner with Ancestor Network, in our new role - promoting Irish genealogy from within the national cultural institutions.”

Aiden Feerick, Head of Research at Ancestor Network added, “It is a great privilege to have been selected with Eneclann by the National Archives of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland. We can provide a world class genealogy advisory service and we will share our expertise and knowledge to those tracing their Irish ancestors. We also look forward to working with the staff of the archives and library in adding value to their genealogical services.”

Approximately half of the project team in the consortium are members of the Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland (A.P.G.I.). The remainder of the team are graduates of the U.C.D. certificate/diploma in genealogy and/or graduates of the University of Limerick’s M.A. in the History of the Family.

Fiona Ross, Director of the National Library of Ireland responded to the news saying: “We are delighted to announce that Eneclann and Ancestor Network have been awarded the contract for providing the genealogy advisory service. They offer an enhanced family history service at a significantly reduced cost to the taxpayer. We look forward to working with them in the coming year.”

The new genealogy service will be available to all visitors to the National Archives of Ireland and the National Library of Ireland. Everyone is welcome to avail of this free service commencing Monday June 11.

Genealogy Advisory Service
National Archives of Ireland: Monday to Friday, 10am to 1.30pm
National Library of Ireland: Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 1pm, 2-5pm, Saturday 9.15am to 12.45pm